Austrian operator Magenta Telekom, which is owned by German telecom group Deutsche Telekom, said its 5G service reached 1,200 locations across the country as of the end of 2020.
Magenta Telekom said it had reached around 40% of households and businesses in Austria with the new mobile communications technology. In July 2020, the 5G service reached 400 locations while 1,000 locations were 5G-capable in October, the telco said.
Magenta Telekom said that its 5G network expansion will continue in 2021.
“The coronavirus crisis made the need for fast, stable internet particularly clear. Whether for home office, home schooling or streaming – the second lockdown already set a new record in data usage in the Magenta network,” the telco said in a release.
The telco had launched 5G services in March 2019.
Telekom Austria’s subsidiary A1 had commercially launched its 5G services in January 2020. At the time of the launch, the carrier said its 5G network will cover 350 locations across 129 municipalities in Austria.
The company claimed its “A1 5Giganetwork” will be the largest 5G network in Austria, spanning 54,000 square kilometers. A1 had acquired 5G spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band in March 2019.
A1 had previously signed a commercial contract with Finnish vendor Nokia for the deployment of its 5G network across the country. The contract includes both Nokia’s 5G radio access and cloud-native 5G core technology.
Drei, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, also launched commercial 5G services in Austria after the company had secured 100 megahertz of 5G-suitable 3.5GHz spectrum covering all twelve designated regions of Austria in March 2019.
Drei has been working with Chinese vendor ZTE in its commercial 5G deployment.
Some of the cities in which the telco provides 5G are Linz, Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, and Salzburg.
Drei said that the expansion of the company’s current commercial 5G network will be mainly driven by market demand in the country, the company’s CEO Jan Trionow previously told RCR Wireless News.
In September of 2020, local operators obtained frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1.5 GHz and 2.1 GHz bands in a second 5G spectrum auction.
Magenta Telekom spent nearly 87 million euros (currently $107 million) for 90 megahertz, A1 secured 80 megahertz for more than €65 million and Hutchison Drei Austria obtained 90 megahertz for almost 50 million euros, the regulator said.
